Multimedia

Audio

Investments by Indian companies in foreign countries have risen sharply as they look for newer markets and resources to fuel a growing economy.

For nearly 150 years, Harrisons Malayalam has grown rubber and tea on massive plantations in the southern Indian states of Tamil Nadu and Kerala. But Managing Director Pankaj Kapoor says that despite the growing demand for both commodities, the company cannot develop new land in India.

"To get land, say 10,000 hectares of land at one place, whichever be the state, is next to impossible, it's not available," noted Kapoor.

The company now plans to invest millions of dollars to develop rubber plantations in Africa.

Kapoor says they have scouted for land in countries like Ethiopia and Ghana.

"It's good to get the land in African countries, because the governments are very keen to get the investors overseas, they have large land, unutilized," Kapoor added. "We can bring in the technology and we can bring in the money."

Harrisons Malayalam is just one of scores of Indian companies which are pushing overseas in search of resources such as land and coal, newer markets, or technology.

Between April 2010 and March 2011 Indian companies invested nearly $44 billion overseas, more than double the previous year.

They have gone to Africa, Asia, Europe and Australia in sectors ranging from farming, pharmaceuticals and energy, to telecommunications and infrastructure. D.K. Joshi, chief economist at the Crisil consulting firm in Mumbai, says the growing investments are driven by several factors.

"Indian corporates have been cash rich and on top of that the foreign exchange regulations were liberalized so that allowed Indians to go out," Joshi noted. "The valuations of foreign companies after the global financial crisis, they were pretty good, so it made sense to go out and acquire companies to expand the global footprint."

The overseas investors include some of India's biggest groups, including: Reliance Industries, the Tata conglomerate, the Essar Group and Bharti Airtel. The Tata conglomerate now earns more than half its revenues overseas.

Chandrajit Banerjee, who heads the Confederation of Indian Industry, says Indian companies have become increasingly confident as they have grown in scale and size since India liberalized its economy two decades ago.

"They became ambitious, their aspiration levels went up, and therefore they started looking offshore," said Banerjee. "Indian industry has today become much more competitive and therefore they are being able to acquire, they are able to match technology, they are able to export, they are able to invest."

Economists also say that as decision-making slows down in India in the wake of high profile corruption scandals, many businesses prefer to invest in what they call more "predictable" markets. A survey by the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry suggests that business confidence in India has plunged due to high interest rates, frustration with governance and problems with issues such as land acquisition.

However, economist Joshi warns that the pace of overseas investments may slow down in the coming months due to concerns of another recession in Western countries.

"I think the companies will try to preserve cash, because their margins are already coming under pressure, and I think there is also a fear that if the global economy crashes again, then I think there will be a credit freeze and you will require money," Joshi added. "So everybody is in a cautious mode right now, so they are likely to go a bit slow in their global acquisitions unless the dust settles on the global environment once again."

Meanwhile, the government says it wants to speed up the pace of economic reforms in such areas as labor laws and land acquisition to encourage Indian companies to invest more money at home.

Manned deep space missions are still a long way off, but space agencies are already testing procedures, equipment and human stamina for operations in extreme environment conditions. Small groups of astronauts take turns in spending days in an underwater lab, off Florida’s southern coast, simulating future missions to some remote world. VOA’s George Putic reports.

Video

Manned deep space missions are still a long way off, but space agencies are already testing procedures, equipment and human stamina for operations in extreme environment conditions. Small groups of astronauts take turns in spending days in an underwater lab, off Florida’s southern coast, simulating future missions to some remote world. VOA’s George Putic reports.

Video

Fifty years ago, lawmakers approved, and U.S. President Lyndon Johnson signed, the Voting Rights Act of 1965. The measure outlawed racial discrimination in voting, giving millions of blacks in many parts of the southern United States federal enforcement of the right to vote. Correspondent Chris Simkins introduces us to some civil rights leaders who were on the front lines in the struggle for voting rights.

Video

Billions of dollars of so-called ‘dirty money’ from the proceeds of crime - especially from Russia - are being laundered through the London property market, according to anti-corruption activists. As Henry Ridgwell reports from the British capital, the government has pledged to crack down on the practice.

Video

Ottawa, Illinois, is the hometown of W.D. Boyce, who founded the Boy Scouts of America in 1910. In Ottawa, where Scouting remains an important part of the legacy of the community, the end of the organization's ban on openly gay adult leaders was seen as inevitable. VOA's Kane Farabaugh reports.

Video

Artificial limbs, including the most complex of them – the human hand – are getting more life-like and useful due to constant advances in tiny hydraulic, pneumatic and electric motors called actuators. But now, as VOA’s George Putic reports, scientists in Germany say the future of the prosthetic hand may lie not in motors but in wires that can ‘remember’ their shape.

Video

A British pro-democracy group has accused Russia of abusing the global law enforcement agency Interpol by requesting the arrest and extradition of political opponents. A new report by the group notes such requests can mean the accused are unable to travel and are often unable to open bank accounts. VOA's Henry Ridgwell reports.

Video

Talks on a major new trade agreement among 12 Pacific Rim nations are said to be nearing completion in Hawaii. Some trade experts say the "positive atmosphere" at the discussions could mean a deal is within reach, but there is still hard bargaining to be done over many issues and products, including U.S. drugs and Japanese rice. VOA's Jim Randle reports.

Video

Earth is in the midst of its sixth mass extinction. The last such event was caused by an asteroid 66 million years ago. It killed off the dinosaurs and practically everything else. So scientists are in a race against time to classify the estimated 11 million species alive today. So far only 2 million are described by science, and researchers are worried many will disappear before they even have a name. VOA’s Rosanne Skirble reports.

Video

Scientists have long been trying to develop an effective protection and cure for malaria - one of the deadliest diseases that affects people in tropical areas, especially children. As the World Health Organization announces plans to begin clinical trials of a promising new vaccine, scientists in South Africa report that they too are at an important threshold. George Putic reports, they are testing a compound that could be a single-dose cure for malaria.

Video

The latest issue of 'New York' magazine features 35 women who say they were drugged and raped by film and television celebrity Bill Cosby. The women are aged from 44 to 80 and come from different walks of life and races. The magazine interviewed each of them separately, but Zlatica Hoke reports their stories are similar.

Video

The United States is promising not to give up its fight against what Secretary of State John Kerry calls the “scourge” of modern slavery. Officials released the country’s annual human trafficking report Monday – a report that’s being met with some criticism. VOA’s National Security correspondent Jeff Seldin has more from the State Department.

Video

Abandoned more than 50 years ago, the underground streetcar station in Washington D.C.’s historic DuPont Circle district is about to be reborn. The plan calls for turning the spacious underground platforms - once meant to be a transportation hub, - into a unique space for art exhibitions, presentations, concerts and even a film set. Roman Mamonov has more from beneath the streets of the U.S. capital. Joy Wagner narrates his report.

Video

Greece has replaced Italy as the main gateway for migrants into Europe, with more than 100,000 arrivals in the first six months of 2015. Many want to move further into Europe and escape Greece’s economic crisis, but they face widespread dangers on the journey overland through the Balkans. VOA's Henry Ridgwell reports.

Video

After the closure of a major rubbish dump a week ago, the streets of Beirut are filling up with trash. Having failed to draw up a plan B, politicians are struggling to deal with the problem. John Owens has more for VOA from Beirut.

Video

A U.N. climate conference in December aims to produce an ambitious agreement to fight heat-trapping greenhouse gases. But many local governments are not waiting, and have drafted their own climate action plans. That’s the case with Paris — which is getting special attention, since it’s hosting the climate summit. Lisa Bryant takes a look for VOA at the transformation of the French capital into an eco-city.